Meet Chioma Ajunwa-Oparah Nigeria’s first Olympic gold medalist

Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, also known as Chioma Ajunwa is a Nigerian  Police officer and female athlete who became the first Nigerian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Chioma Ajunwa who is also the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event specializes in the long jump. She initially played football for the Nigerian Women’s team and was a member of The Falcons during the Women’s World Cup in 1991, but as she was constantly benched, she made a full transition into athletics.

Ajunwa who performed as a track and field athlete competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meters relay, she also competed at the African Championships in 1989 and the All Africa Games in 1991 where she won gold medals in the long jump. before being banned from the sport for four years after failing a drug test in 1992. 

Following the completion of her drug-related ban from competition, Ajunwa went on to become the first African woman, as well as the first Nigerian, to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. 

She emerged victorious in the women’s long jump event at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, with a jump of 7.12m (for her first attempt) during the final. 

Ajunwa who hails from  Ahiazu-Mbaise, A local government area in Imo State was the last of nine children, with six brothers and two sisters. Her father died while she was still young, leaving his wife to solely support a large family. 

At eighteen Ajunwa, who had been a keen athletics participant during her school years, gained admission into university but was unable to register due to her mother’s inability to pay the fees. She later decided to become a motor mechanic but abandoned the idea following her mother’s disapproval.

After winning the Olympic Gold medal at Atlanta ’96, Ajunwa was given a national award –Member of the Order of Niger (MON) – by the then Head of State of Nigeria Sani Abacha.

In December 2017, Chioma Ajunwa launched the Chioma Ajunwa-Okpara Foundation to discover new Nigerian stars in sports.